This is my little brother George..... (Peppa Pig - My Birthday Party and Other Stories (DVD))

Member Name: owensmum

Product:	Peppa Pig - My Birthday Party and Other Stories (DVD)
Date:	20/09/09 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Short episodes, Lovable characters, Humour

Disadvantages: Ive seen them all a million times ! !

When my youngest was born I tried to avoid CBeebies and NickJr as much as I could because I'd been there and done that already with my eldest! So we were happily plodding along with Playhouse Disney....until....Peppa Pig!!! He discovered the cheeky little piggy at the childminders and it became all he wanted to watch.


After several weeks of watching the episodes on TV I gave in and got him some DVDs. A couple of months later I got him a couple more as I was sick of seeing the same episodes!!! One of the DVDs in question is 'Peppa Pig. My Birthday Party and Other Stories'

~Who is Peppa Pig?~
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Peppa Pig was created by Mark Baker and Neville Astley and they must be laughing all the way to the bank. As well as the TV programme and DVDs there are many toys available based on the characters, some of which live in our house.

Peppa lives in a house on a hill with her little brother George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig. She has a group of friends that regularly feature in the episodes as well as Granny and Grandpa Pig. Peppa's constant companion is Teddy and George has his Dinosaur. Most episodes feature muddy puddles in one way or another as jumping in them is the activity of choice for the pigs.


Each episode of the show lasts about 5 minutes and is just a delight from beginning to end. The characters are so familiar and the episodes all have a similar feel to them. They have a bit of comedy and the same catchphrases feature regularly. My son was saying 'Cuckoo' randomly for ages before I realised it was featured in an episode of the show.The end of each episode usually features all the family laughing hysterically so they have to roll on the floor. In between the episodes is a short clip from an episode. This is how my son knows that another episode is following on the TV.

~The DVD~
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This DVD features the following 10 episodes:

1. My Birthday Party - Peppas birthday and she has a fancy dress party
2. The Playground - Peppa plays at the playground with her family and friends
3. Tidying Up - Peppa and George race to tidy up quickest in their bedroom
4. Frogs and Worms and Butterflies - Peppa and George pretend to be different creatures in their Grandpa's garden
5. Daddy Puts Up A Picture - Demonstrates Daddy Pigs lack of DIY skills
6. At the Beach - Sandcastles, suncream and burying Daddy Pig
7. Cleaning The Car - The family clean the car before going out for a drive
8. Grandpa Pig's Boat - The family borrow Grandpas boat for a trip down the river
9. Daddy's Movie Camera - Peppa shows Daddy Pig how to work his new camera
10. The School Play - The school kids perform Little Red Riding Hood


I'm not going to go into any more detail of each episode as they are all fairly simple and self explanatory. What I like about this particular programme is that my son can relate to the activities featured and it has undoubtedly helped to build up his vocabulary. The episodes are also short and keep his attention. My older son is 8 and also used to watch Peppa Pig but not to this extent. He has to endure it now and he secretly loves it! We enjoy laughing at how it can be raining one minute and then sunny and dry almost immediately so that Peppa can rush out in her boots and jump in the muddy puddles.

~DVD Extras~
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There are 2 interactive games included on this DVD. We have had a go at them but I think at just under 3 my son has not quite got the hang of controlling the remote yet. The first game is called ' Learn Your Colours with Peppa'. This has a page full of coloured paint splats.

You select each one in turn and it will tell you the name of the colour by relating it to something popular in the show. An example being Green Dinosaur - Georges favourite toy.


The second game is called 'Tidy Up Game' This is based on the 'Tidying Up' episode and involves collecting toys from around the bedroom and putting them in to the toy basket.

~Other details~
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This DVD cost me £4.99 from Morrisons and they have a few other titles to choose from all featuring 10-12 episodes. There is not a great deal to choose between each one other than building up a collection of episodes.

The running time for this particular DVD is 51 minutes and has a U classification.


More information and all DVD's, Toys etc are available on www.peppapig.com

~Final Note~
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Its inevitable that your child is going to discover a favourite character and I'm happy that Peppa Pig is the character of choice. Of course the merchandise is all bumped up in price and advertised every five minutes and I've seen every episode a million times. There is currently a 3rd series of the show being produced which is due for airing in August (its already September?!) this year so that will help I'm sure!

Summary: Oink!